Blast From The Past: 2009 Racing Post Trophy

Saturday’s Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster is the final Group 1 of the British Flat season, and a race trainer Aidan O’Brien has won on six further occasions since landing it for the first time with Saratoga Springs in 1997. Victory in the latest renewal would perhaps be the most significant yet, however, as it would see O’Brien set a new record of 26 Group/Grade 1 wins in a calendar year. O’Brien’s claims of doing that on Town Moor look fairly strong, too, with four of the 12 declarations representing Ballydoyle, including the current favourite Saxon Warrior, who has followed a well-trodden path for a highly-regarded two-year-old colt trained by O'Brien.

Indeed, many of O'Brien's Beresford Stakes winners have also gone on to contest the Racing Post Trophy, though Saratoga Springs and the brilliant 2009 winner St Nicholas Abbey are the only pair to have completed the double. Like Saxon Warrior, St Nicholas Abbey was so impressive when winning his Beresford that he was made favourite for the Derby by all bookmakers, as short as 8/1 in a couple of places. Those prices lasted just over a month, however, as St Nicholas Abbey was cut to as short as 2/1 for the Epsom classic following his Racing Post Trophy effort, and it will likely take a similarly devastating display from Saxon Warrior for him dominate the ante-post market in such a way.

Every runner in the 2009 Racing Post Trophy had won their latest start, not a common occurrence in an eleven-strong field, while there were some proven colts in the line-up, as well as several distinctly promising ones. St Nicholas Abbey started 13/8 favourite ahead of Acomb Stakes winner Elusive Pimpernel and Godolphin's highly-regarded Al Zir. Next in the betting came Coordinated Cut, who had been joint-favourite for the Derby before even appearing on the racecourse and justifying favouritism in a maiden event at Doncaster. He was followed by decisive Newbury maiden winner Dancing David, Solario Stakes and Goffs Million Mile winner Shakespearean and Autumn Stakes winner Morana. The other runners were all at 25/1 or longer.

It is rare to see a jockey ride such a confident race in a championship event as Johnny Murtagh did on St Nicholas Abbey. Dropped out last, around six lengths off the pace set by Shakespearean and Al Ghazal, St Nicholas Abbey was still cantering two and a half furlongs out, with Murtagh sitting motionless while his rivals were all pushing and shoving. Once asked to quicken a furlong and a half out, St Nicholas Abbey produced an electrifying turn of speed and swept from sixth to first in the space of half a furlong. Nor was that the end of it, St Nicholas Abbey maintaining his run under hand riding to draw three and three quarter lengths clear of Elusive Pimpernel, who kept on gamely but was made to look one paced compared to the winner. Al Zir was a further two and a half lengths away third, with Dancing David, Morana and Shakespearean next and Coordinated Cut only tenth.

St Nicholas Abbey, still full of running at the end, made a good field look second rate and there was no room to doubt that it was the outstanding performance during that year by a two-year-old, not just in Europe but anywhere in the northern hemisphere. It was also the best in the Racing Post Trophy since Celtic Swing's runaway success in 1994, and St Nicholas Abbey was actually quoted at just 14/1 to win the triple crown after that effort, though ultimately it was not to be. Indeed, St Nicholas Abbey only raced once as a three-year-old, finishing just sixth when an evens favourite for the 2000 Guineas Newmarket, and it was not until his four-year-old season that he began to fulfil his potential.

The son of Montjeu won that year’s Coronation Cup and Breeders’ Cup Turf, and returned to win the former event for a second time in 2012. His six-year-old season promised to be his best yet, too, but his career was brought to a premature end after victories in the Dubai Sheema Classic and the Coronation Cup, which he was, of course, winning for a record third year in a row. He suffered a fractured pastern and fetlock when being prepared for the King George, and was duly retired with career earnings of £4,954,590 and a Timeform master rating of 128, though he reached a peak of 131. He was sadly put down just six months later after suffering inoperable strangulating colon torsion.